The present invention relates generally to fluid containers, and more particularly to apparatuses and methods for measuring, mixing, and dispensing fluids.
It is common to mix one or more fluids in household, industrial, academic, agricultural, and other applications. For example, common household chemicals including detergents and cleaning solutions, lawn care products, adhesives, and the like must often be combined with water or another fluid before use. As another example, it can be necessary to mix a quantity of gasoline with a quantity of oil to fuel and lubricate a two-cycle internal-combustion engine. As still other examples, some industrial and agricultural chemicals (such as pesticides, fertilizers, solvents, and the like) must be diluted with water or combined with another fluid prior to use.
Often it is necessary or desirable to mix two fluids in specific ratios by volume (referred to hereafter as the xe2x80x9cmixing ratiosxe2x80x9d). For example, agricultural and industrial chemicals are often shipped and/or stored in two or more separate containers and must be combined in a proper mixing ratio before use. Similarly, oil is commonly mixed with gasoline for fueling and lubricating internal combustion engines as mentioned above. Additionally, the owner""s manual or other directions of many devices instruct the user to mix different fluids in a particular mixing ratio. In these and other cases, it is desirable and often necessary that the fluids be mixed in specific mixing ratios.
Referring again to internal-combustion engines, if too much oil is added to a given quantity of gasoline, the resultant mix can be too rich for a particular engine. As a result, the engine may not operate at optimal performance levels. Alternatively, if too little oil is added to the gasoline, the engine may not operate properly and may even be damaged as a result of inadequate lubrication. In other applications, cleaning chemicals, pesticides, agricultural products, lawn-care products, and the like are commonly mixed with water in specific ratios before being used. Generally, the inclusion of either too much or too little water can reduce the effectiveness of these chemicals. Therefore, a need exists for an apparatus and a method for accurately combining two or more fluids in desired ratios.
Often, the process of mixing fluids is complicated by the use of two or more different volume measurements, sometimes requiring cumbersome and time consuming conversion calculations. For example, if a first fluid is purchased or made available in measurements of ounces while a second fluid is purchased or made available in measurements of gallons, preparing a proper mixing ratio of these fluids can prove to be difficult for many users. Alternatively, one fluid can be sold or dispensed by the cup while another fluid can be sold or dispensed by the quart. In these and other cases, the user must determine the proper mixing ratio and perform conversion calculations before mixing the first and second fluids. Similarly, the use of different measurement systems (e.g., English vs. Metric measuring systems) can further complicate mixing operations. For example, mixing instructions can be provided in one measurement system despite the fact that they are available for purchase or dispense only in another measurement system""s amounts. A need therefore exists for an apparatus and a method which alleviates the need to perform conversion calculations when mixing fluids.
Commonly, a user is directed to mix two or more fluids in specific quantities, but has less than the necessary quantity of one or more of the fluids. For example, a user may be directed to mix four ounces of motor oil with each gallon of gasoline. If the user has less than four ounces of motor oil, the mixing operation can be inconvenient and complicated, such as when the user has an unknown amount of motor oil or is only able to estimate the amount of motor oil available. Additionally, if the user has less than the prescribed amount of one or more fluids, the user may be required to perform multiple calculations, purchase more of one or more of the fluids, and/or waste a quantity of one or more of the fluids. A need therefor exists for an apparatus and a method for mixing fluids in desired ratios, even when the user has less than the prescribed amount of one or more of the fluids or has an unknown amount of one or more of the fluids.
Different applications often require different fluid mixing ratios. For example, a homeowner may have a lawnmower which requires a gasoline/oil mixture in a ratio of 32:1 and may also have a leaf blower which requires a gasoline/oil mixture in a ratio of 64:1. In such cases, it is common to have two separate dedicated fuel containers: one for the lawnmower and one for the leaf blower. This practice of keeping dedicated containers for various devices or applications wastes space, can result in the disposal and waste of fluids that have been mixed but have a limited shelf life, and can cause confusion regarding which mixed fluids are to be used for which devices or applications. It is therefore desirable to provide an apparatus and method for mixing fluids in more than one known ratio.
Frequently, instructions for mixing fluids in a given ratio are directed to relatively large quantities of fluids. For example, an owner""s manual may include directions for mixing one gallon of mixed product. In some applications however, it is desirable to prepare less than the amount described in the directions. For example, the user may have less than the prescribed amount of one or more of the fluids (as discussed above) or the user may not need the prescribed amount of mixed product. In such cases, it may still be desirable to mix the two fluids in the prescribed ratios and to mix less than the prescribed amount of mixed product. For example, the user may have a chainsaw with a mixing ratio of 1 part oil to 64 parts gasoline, may only have two-fifths of a gallon of gasoline, and may want to mix an appropriate amount of oil with the gasoline. Alternatively, the chainsaw may only hold half of a gallon of fuel-oil mix and the user may only want to mix enough gasoline and oil to fill the chainsaw. In other applications, the instructions may indicate how to prepare a relatively small amount of fuel-oil mixture, but the user may want to prepare a much larger volume of fuel-oil mixture. A need therefore exists for an apparatus and method for converting fluid mixing ratios into either smaller or larger mixed fluid amounts.
In addition to the design considerations discussed above, apparatuses that are easy to manufacture, easy to assemble, and inexpensive are highly desirable for obvious reasons. In light of the problems and limitations discussed above, a need exists for a fluid mixing apparatus and method which facilitates the accurate combination of two or more fluids in desired mixing ratios, alleviates or reduces the need to perform conversion calculations when mixing fluids, facilitates mixing of two or more fluids according to specified mixing ratios even when the user has less than the prescribed amounts of one or more of the fluids, can facilitate the mixture of two or more fluids in more than one mixing ratio, and can enable the preparation of larger or smaller amounts of fluids having desired fluid mixing ratios. Each preferred embodiment of the present invention achieves one or more of these results.
Various embodiments of the present invention employ a number of features addressing problems encountered in fluid mixing operations. The present invention provides a fluid mixing apparatus in which two or more fluids can be mixed in one or more desired ratios. In some embodiments, the fluid mixing apparatus of the present invention includes a container having a first chamber and a second chamber for receiving a first and a second fluid, respectively.
Preferably, the first and second chambers are separated by a divider. In some embodiments, the divider is moveable to selectively connect and separate the first and second chambers. In this manner, a first fluid can be inserted into the first chamber, a second fluid can be inserted into the second chamber, and the divider can be moved to mix the first and second fluids. Preferably, the divider can be positioned to seal one chamber from the other to keep fluids in the chambers separate from one another.
In some embodiments, the first and second chambers are adjacent to one another, with the bottom of the first chamber at the same elevation as the bottom of the second chamber. The first and second chambers can be contoured or can otherwise have respective shapes and sizes enabling a user to mix the first and second fluids in a desired mixing ratio by at least partially filling the first chamber with the first fluid to a given elevation measured from the bottom of the first chamber and by at least partially filling the second chamber with the second fluid to the same elevation measured from the bottom of the second chamber. In this manner, the user can accurately mix the first and second fluids in the desired mixing ratio. Additionally, in these and in other embodiments, the user can combine the first and second fluids without performing complicated measuring operations and without performing complicated conversion calculations.
Some embodiments of the present invention have two or more dividers which can be inserted or otherwise positioned in the fluid mixing apparatus or are shaped to define different first and/or second chambers sizes. For example, different dividers can be shaped to occupy different amounts of either or both first and second chambers to change the volume of either or both first and second chambers. As another example, one or more dividers can be inserted or otherwise positioned in different manners to define different fluid chamber sizes. In such manners, dividers can be used to change the ratio of the volumes of the first and second chambers. Therefore, some embodiments of the present invention enable a user to mix fluids in two or more different mixing ratios by the position, shape, or position and shape of a divider between the fluids. Preferably, these embodiments enable a user to mix the first and second fluids in the desired mixing ratio even when the user has less then a specific amount of either or both of the first and second fluids. Additionally, the present invention preferably enables a user to quickly and easily produce the maximum possible amount of mixed product given an available amount of the first and second fluids.
In some embodiments, the fluid mixing apparatus of the present invention can include one or more volume indicators which can display to a user the relative volume of fluid in either or both of two fluid chambers. The fluid indicators can take a number of different forms, including floats, display tubes, and the like. In other cases, the outer wall or at least a portion of the outer wall of the first and second chambers is transparent, semitransparent, or translucent. In such manners, the user can preferably see how full or how empty the first and second chambers are. In these and other embodiments, the first and/or second chambers can have scales that are externally visible to a user, thereby enabling the user to accurately mix desired amounts of the first and second fluids in a desired mixing ratio by filling the first and second chambers to indicia on the scale(s).
Other features and advantages of the present invention along with the organization and manner of operation thereof will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following detailed description, claims, and drawings, wherein like elements have like numerals throughout.